Fishermen groan as fresh oil spill hits A’Ibom communities

As Mobil Producing Nigeria (MPN) Unlimited continues to grapple with issues of compensation to host communities over frequent oil spill, fishermen on the coastal waters of Ibeno, have reported fresh spill in the area.

The fishermen, who threatened mass protest if urgent interventions were not taken by the American oil giant, said the patches of crude spill have affected no fewer than 10 communities within the shoreline of Ibeno Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State.

One of the fishermen, Effiong Ating Udoyo, who spoke to the Nigerian Tribune lamented that “the only business we have here is fishing, and frequent oil spill has forced us out of the business”.

According to him, the spills have also devastated aquatic lives, farmlands and other agribusinesses around the coastal waters of Ibeno.

He, therefore, appealed to MPN to expedite action by dispatching emergency team to commence the clean-up of the spill so they could return to their fishing job.

Confirming the incident, Comrade Godwin Robert, a youth leader in the area, who also doubles as the Secretary of Ulok Ulok Peoples Assembly (UUPA), a socio-cultural group in Ibeno, lamented that “the frequent spills have brought untold hardship on our people”.

He blamed the latest spill on major repairs recently carried out by Mobil on pipelines destroyed by Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) when they attacked the Edoho pipeline facility, a couple of months ago.

“I am not surprised at the latest spill because I understand that Mobil is trying to fix Edoho pipeline destroyed by Niger Delta Avengers. I expected this to happened because there is no way they will fix the pipeline without a spill,” he explained.

Besides, he disclosed that the spill was traced to Mobil facility located at Okposo Atia, the Western and Eastern ends of Ibeno communies.

“We expect Mobil to investigate to ascertain the impact of the spill and to take necessary action to remedy the situation,” he added.

On his part, the president of the group, Harry Moses, expressed worry over Mobil’s insensitivity to the plight of the local communities affected by the spill since it was discovered on December 13, 2016, and called for immediate action  to clean the spill.

Lamenting the scourge of oil spills around oil producing local government areas of Ibeno, Onna, Eket and Esit Eket, Chief Etang Umoyo, a community leader in Esit Ekek, blamed Mobil for always treating sensitive issues of oil spills with kid gloves.

He recalled that the problem had over the years, devastated oil communities with less attention paid to the issue of appropriate compensation to assuage the impact.

in affected communities.

“Mobil has been using double standard when it comes to the issue of compensation in matters like this in Nigeria. In Europe and America, Mobil would pay adequate compensation in line with international standards, but here, they are using different standards because they believe we don’t know our rights. This is why they always shortchange us”, Umoyo, a former senator, fumed.

Efforts to speak with the Manager in charge of Public Affairs and Government at the Qua Iboe Terminal (QIT), Ibeno, Mrs. Regina Udobong, proved abortive as she did not pick her calls.